Economics of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in Oyo-state, Nigeria.

Abstract

This research examines the Economic contributions of major non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to the livelihoods of rural communities in Oyo State for the period covering 2002 to 2004, using descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis, gross margin analysis, gini-coefficient and normalized profit function analysis. A sample of 150 respondents were interviewed from two forest zones-Ibadan/Ibarapa and Shaki out of four forest zones-Ibadan/Ibarapa,Oyo,Ogbomosho and Shaki zones of Oyo State. The investigated variables were found significant and bore the expected positive signs thereby showing a direct linkage with gross income i.e.an increase in these variables brought about an increase in income.The gross margin analysis shows that NTFPs trade in the study area was profitable with an average trader earning a gross margin of N8,827.64 per month. The gini-coefficient of 0.95 shows inequality in income distribution. The normalized profit function analysis shows that for Bush meat, there is equal economic efficiency in both rainforest and savannah zone respectively. However savannah NTFP, users do not have absolute price or allocative efficiency. In the case of fuel wood there is no equal economic efficiency in both rainforest and savannah zone whereas NTFPs users in the savannah have absolute allocative or price efficiency. The implication is that for both types of NTFPs there is profit maximization i.e the users equate the value of marginal product of their variable factors of production to their factor cost. Also fuel wood is sustainable in the savannah zone and government should encourage the sustainable development of forest trees through afforestation projects.